Shockproof removable container car



Aug. 30, 1938. w. P. KELLETT SHOCKPROOF REMOVABLE CONTAINER CAR Filed May 7, -193a 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 m 5 8 i 9 mp b.

Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNiTED STATES PATENT orrics Claims.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a car or truck adapted for transporting removable goods containers with shock absorbing equipment and means for securing the containers 5 in position upon the car in such a manner as to eliminate waste space at the car ends and between containers and to reduce the actual truck orv car structure to the minimum length for a standard length container, thereby eiTecting a very definite saving in construction costs and cost of operation and maintenance.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novel arrangement of pockets in the underside of the goods containers which are removably mounted on the car or truck body, which pockets are adapted to receive the clamping jacks for holding the containers in place so that the ends of the containers may more closely approach the end of the car body and the adjacent ends of containers on a car body built to accommodate more than one container may be brought into close proximity, the jacks being arranged on the car body under the containers in such a manner as to enter the pockets to clamp the car body securely, the said jacks being arranged in pairs connected together and connected to the car structure through spring elements.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a railway car shown partly in section and illustrating the rela tive arrangement of the container holding jacks and the containers equipped with my improved pocket structure for housing the engaging ends of the jacks.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the corner structure of a container constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the structure illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the corner structure illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional View through the corner structure taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged horizontal section of the jack sockets arranged in the corner pocket of the container.

Figure 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of the corner of the car deck and container showing the holding jack raised and accommodated in the 50 corner recess in looking relation to the container.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a corner of the container showing the corner recess therein.

The present invention is directed to an improved shock proof structure similar to that disclosed in my co-pending application No. 39,404, filed September 6th, 1935, (now Patent 2,072,988, dated March 9, 1937) in that jacks slidably mounted on the car or truck frame are connected together in pairs and are adapted to engage and 5 hold the removable goods containers during transportation, the paired jacks being connected to the car or truck frame through a spring me dium which absorbs endwise shocks imparted to the frame or chassis and obviates the transmis- 10 sion of such shocks to the containers which are supported upon rollers on the deck of the car or truck.

In the construction illustrated in the said patent, as also in other structures which are publicly 15 known, jacks are arranged on the car structure to engage fittings on the ends of the containers and accommodation is provided in the length of the car or truck for the arrangement of such jacks beyond the ends of the container. 20

The jacks l are pivotally mounted in blocks 2 which are slidably mounted on suitable guides 3 forming part of the car structure. The blocks 2 of each pair of longitudinally disposed jacks are connected together by rods 4 which extend horizontally toward each other and the inner ends of these rods are connected to blocks 5 which are tied together by a rod 6 and a compression spring l encircling the rod 6 is engaged by inwardly movable sleeves B which are flanged so that they can 30 move only in an inward direction toward the centre of the car.

It will be seen that the endwise connection between the jack blocks 2 is inextensible and that the jacks when clamped against the container body will hold it securely, but the jacks can move longitudinally in unison and their lengthwise movement is cushioned by the spring 7 all of which construction is set forth in the said patent.

According to the present invention the containers 9 are provided with a special form of corner structure in the form of a rectangular casting [0 which is hollow on the underside and has an open outward side, thus forming an underside corner pocket and at the inward end of this casting is provided a socket member H which has a semi-circular flange l2 which opens outwardly to the side of the car and is adapted to receive the flanged end I3 of the jack screw M, which screw is threaded in the upper end of the jack I so that the container may be positively interlocked with the holding jacks in the manner set forth in my copending application 8,685, filed February 28th, 1935, but in the present case the actual socket member is preferably cast integral with the corner pocket casting and is housed therein so that it does not project beyond the ends of the container, but is actually spaced inwardly therefrom in the fore and aft direction to enable the upper end of the jack and jack screw to be also accommodated or housed in the pocket recess when raised so that no part of the same projects beyond the container either at the ends or the sides.

This corner socket casting is suitably reinforced by vertical ribs ii: on the inward side and at the outward end is provided with an upwardly projecting right-angular corner piece I6 which nests within and is rigidly secured to the right-angular corner piece ll of the frame of the container 9.

The recessed castings to extend well inwardly from the fore and aft ends of the containers so that the jacks are disposed well in under the container ends when they are secured in place, but as the jacks are adapted to be swung outwardly and downwardly when the container is to be removed from the car or truck, they swing freely outward through the open sides of the castings I and the jack screws readily accessible for manual operation from the sides of the car when the jacks are in the raised position for the purpose of turning same to either lock or unlock same with the socket members it at the inner ends of the castings i8.

Where this invention is applied to a railway car where two containers are arranged end to end, the ends of the containers may be brought into very close association as no space is required between them for a holding jack, but the jack is arranged underneath the end engaging the structure within the corner pocket. Also at one end of the car, the jack may be arranged so as to allow the container to extend completely to the end of the car (as best shown in Figure 7) but as herein shown, where the structure is provided on a freight car, provision may have to be made at one end of the car for a hand brake for the car (as best shown at the right hand end of Figure 1), consequently this end of the car extends past the end of the container. but not as far as would be required if the jacks were required to be outside the ends of the container.

It will be appreciated that where the jacks are arranged underneath the containers as herein shown and described, the total length of the car may be considerably reduced and space heretofore wasted will be eliminated at the car ends and between the containers and as the car is shortened the wheel base is also reduced. Further, the resultant reduction of stresses on longitudinal members makes it possible to reduce the car Weight materially.

A socket arrangement can be provided in this manner in the construction of the container which will in no wise reduce the strength of the container, but rather it may be increased, as the corner castings on the container act as a base for the container corner posts and rigidly connect the end, intermediate and side rails at each corner.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. The combination with a container-carrying car having paired holding jacks pivoted to the car and slidably mounted thereon for cushioned fore and aft shock displacement in locking contact with a container, of a rectangular container adapted to embrace said jacks and removably mounted on said car and having recessed corner structures recessed horizontally and vertically into the container structure and projecting over and embracing said jacks, and lock means carried in part by said jacks and in part by the corner structures within the jack-embracing recesses and engageable only when said jacks are accommodated within said corner recesses to lock said jacks to said containers with the jacks accommodated therebelow, said recessed corner structures opening downwardly and outwardly to provide for lateral entry and removal of said holding jacks and to render the lock means accessible for manual operation from the side of the car.

2. The combination with a container-carrying car having holding jacks slidably mounted thereon for shock-relief displacement and pivotally mounted to be swung in lateral planes to an upright container-holding position above the deck surface and having lock portions displaceable relative to the jacks, of a container for detachable mounting on said car deck adapted to embrace said jacks when they are in their operative position above the car deck and formed with pockets at the ends opening downwardly and laterally and adapted when the jacks are swung upwardly to receive and house the entire upper end portion of the upwardly swung holding jacks, and lock means Within said pockets registering with said displaceable lock portions of the jacks and adapted to receive the said displaceable lock portions only when said jacks are in their upwardly swung position housed within said container pockets, said end pockets being of such length in the fore and aft direction as to permit manual operation of the locking portions of said housed jacks from the side of the car into and out of locking contact with said lock means in the pockets.

3. The combination with a container-carrying car having holding jacks slidably mounted thereon for shock-relief displacement and pivotally mounted to be swung in lateral planes to an upright container-holding position above the deck surface and having lock portions displaceable rel ative to the jacks, of a container for detachable mounting on said car deck adapted to embrace said jacks when they are in their operative position above the car deck and formed with pockets at the ends opening downwardly and laterally and adapted when the jacks are swung upwardly to receive and house the entire upper end portion of the upwardly swung holding jacks, and lock means within said pockets registering with said displaceable lock portions of the jacks and adapted to receive the said displaceable lock por- .tions only when said jacks are in their upwardly swung position housed within said container pockets, said pockets extending longitudinally a sufficient distance from the ends of the container to accommodate the jack members without projection beyond the ends of the container and being open at the ends to permit operating access to the displaceable lock portions and said lock means is positioned at the inward ends of said pockets to be engaged by an inward movement of said displaceable lock portions within the pockets relative to the housed jacks.

4. The combination with a container car having pivotally mounted means arranged thereon to be swung above the deck into locking relation to a removable container and having threaded locking portions relatively displaceable in the fore and aft direction for interlocking and clamping co-operation with a container, of a container adapted to embrace said pivotally mounted means when same are in operative position above the car deck and having recesses in the lower end corners opening sidewise, endwise and downwardly and being of sufiicient width, height and length to permit the entry and removal of the said retractible means bodily with the displaceable locking portions thereof during the swinging displacement thereof and to enable manual operation of the said threaded locking portions from the side of the car while in their recessed relation to the container, and sockets permanently housed within and carried by the inward ends of said corner recesses adapted to receive and interlock with said displaceable locking portions only when said retractible means are swung upwardly above the car deck and accommodated within said corner recesses.

5. The combination with a container-carrying car having paired holding jacks pivoted to the car structure to be swung above the car deck and longitudinally slidable thereon in opposition to cushioning means, of a container adapted to embrace said holding jacks when in their operative position above the car deck, the corners of said container each having a recess therein opening downwardly and outwardly and longitudinally to receive and house the jacks in recessed containerholding relation at the end of their upward swinging movement about their pivotal mountings said recesses being of a length sufiicient to accommodate the jacks and permit manual operation thereof from the side of the car without projection beyond the ends of the container.

WILLIAM PLATTS KELLETT. 

